Journal entry for Jay Alspaugh first year bow hunter Pt. 1

Journal entry for Jay Alspaugh first year bow hunter Pt. 1

  I started bow hunting deer in May of 2014. I started in May because I had never owned, shot or even
held a compound bow prior to May 2014. Knowing that to use any tool required dedicated time to learn the proper technique and function. I had to start way before I even set foot into the woods. My primary reason for getting into bow was to simply expand the hunting season. Allowing only a few days in the late fall for gun season when the weather can be just about anything is frustrating to the “hunter” in me. I spent too many days, weeks and years with the Ohio fall rain/sleet/snow and yes hail. A change is what I needed, my change was to find days where the deer are actually out and about. What does any guy do when he needs a change? Easy, start complaining to other guys! If
you hadn’t figured it out yet, men are problem solvers. So the first response to my complaint was a solution. So I had to complain to a lot guys and I received several solutions. From hunt out west go
for the mule deer to since you are cold and wet anyway just duck hunt. To the duck hunters out there you guys are my hero! However many of the guys in my circle of influence recommended
bow hunting. The common response was you get a longer season, the weather is better and there is the rut. Now, if you only did gun week in Ohio you completely missed the rut. Let me tell you
when the rut is on the deer are stupid. Those guys only have one thing on the brain. I am getting ahead of myself here. I will go back to my sphere of influence, I needed a mentor now that I have decided; yes I am going to bow hunt. I met with David March a few times, he went over the language of bow hunting and helped me get started. David was kind enough to go shopping with me. The shopping was for a hunting bow, so it was cool. Anytime guys go shopping together it should be for weapons, food or transportation. Anything other than the approved three items is out of bounds. So armed with a mentor I purchased my first bow. A Fuel by Bowtech, the guys at the store measured my arms span and setup the bow with all of the necessary adjustments and all of the trimmings. Here is a picture of me on a sunny day in the late fall with my bow. Now in my book this kind of day is way better then breaking the ice of my jacket during gun week. Which I did two days later. So now that I have a bow and everything I need to send an arrow down range I needed to practice and a place to practice. This where things get really personal. Normally I go to the range and do my gun target and practice shooting. As a natural problem solver, I am going to build a range in my backyard. I thought this was a great idea, my wife on the other hand thought this was a crazy idea. She was not sure that putting an archery range out back was the best solution. I assured her that the backstop would stop any arrows and that I would be safe. Now that I have a range to practice on, I needed to come up with various distances to shoot from. My mentor and friend Mr. March said he shoots up to 75 yards. I know my limits and being new to the sport and a lack of space I setup 60, 40 and 30 yard distance markers. My daily goal was shoot 60 arrows a day 20 from each distance. That was fun! I enjoyed the time in my backyard range, my kids would come out and join me. It was a great summer, I was learning some new skills and getting fresh air at the same time. As a side note, I have not lost any arrows in the 14 months that I have been a responsible bow owner. I would like to think it is because I have incredible aim, but really I think it is due to Mr. March getting me started in the right direction. The summer went by and I had to get geared up for the up and coming deer season. Again, back to my friends with the question, “what kind of broadhead do you use”? This is like asking what is your favorite color or ice cream. So many options, I was lost in the sea of broadheads. I decided the mechanical broadhead appealed to me. Because they look dangerous and cool all at the same time!
Even the name evokes fear and power at the same time and they come with “diamond sharp tip technology”. What is not to love about these?! The previous statement is only my opinion and not to be construed that these are the only broadheads to fit your needs. As a bonus the pack included a practice tip. Up until this point I had only been using the 100 grain field tips. A whole new world was opened to me. I wondered just how big of a hole something like this would make in a deer. My target bag did a nice job of stopping the field tip arrows and the bag was only for
field tips. I didn’t have a “broadhead’ target, I didn’t want to go buy one.